Markos writes tonight in response to Ezra Klein,
My take is that it's unconscionable to force people to buy a product from a private insurer that enjoys sanctioned monopoly status.
I can understand that take. And Markos is right: it's unconscionable. I wish there were a better option, but I'm realistic enough to know that anyone who thinks killing this bill will give us something better is engaging in delusion. Well-intentioned delusions, certainly, but delusions nonetheless.
Howard Dean has a similar message: kill the bill.
And here's the problem: we're not getting a better bill. No way, no how, not for another 15-20 years, if there is no bill coming out of this Congress. Democrats will lose some seats in 2010, and with a single seat lost in the Senate, there's no chance of health-care reform for years and years. In the meantime, thousands of uninsured Americans will die every year for lack of coverage. As my brother Stan Dorn (of the evil Urban Institute, absolutely) pointed out some weeks ago
Imagine you're with dozens of your uninsured neighbors, low-wage workers with chronic illness. Maybe they clean your office building, care for your children, or help with your dry cleaning. Facing you are two buttons, green and red.
Push the green one, and your friends and neighbors get health insurance. Chronically ill parents survive and get to know their grandchildren.
Push the red one, and these low-wage workers remain uninsured. Some needlessly suffer severe illness. Others die, and some of their children grow up without a parent. Either way -- whether you choose red or green -- there's no public option.
Which button do you push?
So, Markos, Howard, and everyone else who would like to keep health care reform pure, which button do you push? We only have a few days...
UPDATE: Wow. That's the fastest flurry of responses I've ever had for a diary, even the few recommended ones. Thanks, whether you agree with me or not.